A DARING teacher from Nailsea will be ascending to new heights as she attempts to climb Mouth Kilimanjaro for charity.

Julie Baldwin, a teacher at Nailsea School, began the staggering 19,340 ft climb on Sunday and hopes to complete it in six days.

The plucky fund-raiser has so far raised more than �5,000 for the Livingstone Tanzania Trust through sponsorship and a number of events, but hopes to double that figure.

Speaking before she flew out to Tanzania on Friday, she said: “I’m very excited about it, but nervous as well because I’m worried about feeling ill due to the altitude and not making it up to the top. A group of 35 of us are doing it including soldiers and very fit people.”

Julie suffered some setbacks while training, including a knee injury, but is fighting fit now and determined to reach the top.

She said: “I’ve never done anything like it before. I wanted a personal challenge and something to help me get fit.

“I also wanted to do something which involved me going abroad and seeing something new. I chose the charity as I wanted to help children who don’t have anything.”

Julie, who used to run a charity with her mum called the Nick Baldwin Memorial Association in memory of her brother, chose the Livingstone Tanzania Trust as it is trying to alleviate poverty in the country.

She has also set up links with the local school and Nailsea School.

To sponsor Julie visit www.bmycharity.com/juliebaldwin